Final project 1

David Burnett who was born in Salt Lake City Utah, USA is known as one of the most accomplished photojournalists of all time. With his numerous works as well as his awards to back him up, David has achieved much more than any other photojournalist could in a total of four decades. During his earlier career, while in college as well as post-college, he had worked and interned for various magazines such as Life and Times magazine amongst others before he decided to settle down and create his own company alongside a friend of his in New York. According to David Burnett’s bibliography of Freestyle photography Supplies, his images got disseminated from his coverage of the aftermath of the 1973 Chilean Coup d'Etat which earned him his first major award, the Overseas Press Club of America's prestigious "Robert Capa Gold Medal" for "outstanding photography demonstrating exceptional courage under difficult circumstances". His photography showed people of the world an insight into what the war was like.



Image by David Burnett
The year 1973
Image from https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/09/chile-coup-santiago-allende-social-democracy-september-11-2

Principle #1: Obvious Main subject, about 1/4 to 2/3 of the image area

The main subjects are multiple people however the person who stands out the most is the man in the further back. He has a mixture of emotions on his face one of which is confusion as well as fear. He looked like he was not expecting to have his picture taken.

Principle #2: Subject Expression: As already mentioned, the man clearly has a mix of emotions on his face. Compared to the background, he does not look scared of the soldiers but rather he is scared of having his picture unexpectedly taken.

Principle #3: Rules of thirds: If the main subject being the man were to not be there, it will still be a fine picture however it will be more confusing because the man gives the photo more emotions.

Why did I choose the image?:

I chose this image because of the expressions on the man's face. I believe David took it for the same reason. It was not forced but rather natural and the man's facial expression is that of instinct.

Image by:- David Burnett
Year:- 1996
Image from http://photographmag.com/reviews/david-burnett-man-without-gravity-at-anastasia-photo/

Principle #1: Keep it simple: The image is very simple and calming. A perfect way to describe it would be the calm of the storm. David took his time to capture such a simple and relaxing picture of a man during what seems to be a swimming race.

Principle #2: Contrast Appropriate: The contrast is noticeable due to the brighter and darker sections of the image. From the sides, it emerges the darker parts which then turn lighter as

 high in this image because of the difference between the bright and dark areas. 

Principle #3: What feelings does the image create? The first feeling I felt while looking at this image was calm. The man makes it seem like he enjoys what he was doing making me feel more relaxed and making swimming seem so easy.

Why did I choose the image?: I chose this image because of the calmness it provides. As the man stretches and seemingly looks like he is flying, it makes the image look relaxing.

Image by:- David Burnett
Year:- 1976
Image from https://anastasia-photo.com/photographers/david-burnett/

Principle #1: Background complements or detracts from composition

The only thing in the background is water and the Statue of Liberty. I believe that complete the image because it adds to the fact the little girl is mimicking the State. The background is to of focus in order to bring more focus on the little girl.

Principle #2: Is the image Black & White or color? The image is in black & white this is because of back when the image was taken there were no colored cameras available. Having the images in black and white provides a different emotion.

Principle #3: Subjects Expression

The little girl is posed but in a very silly and cute way. She looks very excited to see the Statue of Liberty and to even copy the exact pose. It looks as if the shot is candid and Carol just happen to catch her make that pose. 

Why did I choose the image?: I choose this image because of the man's face. His face was very nonchalant and filled with happiness. It looks relaxing and not really thought of. He seemed natural.

One of David’s most famous work was while he had worked with Bob Marley. During David’s era at Life magazine, he was asked to do a cover in Kingston, Jamaica in the year 1975 where he was to take pictures of the well-known reggae artist Bob Marley. He had admitted during an interview with James Estrin that “Like most Americans in the mid-70s, I had never heard of Bob Marley and I had never heard of reggae music. I knew what calypso was, and we all knew about the banana boat song, but beyond that, everything of that more modern time was pretty much lost on most of us”. This indicates how challenging this was for him. While it was difficult for him due to the different environment, David also shared during an interview with James Estrin from NYtimes that “my ultimate desire is really just to be able to get close to somebody and have them forget that I’m there. You either get it or you don’t.” This encouraged him and decreased the amount of pressure placed on him to capture amazing pictures. This led to him making his first book titled ‘Bob Marley, one on one’.

Alongside that work, another one of his most accomplished work is titled ‘The Presidents’.During the 40 years in which David Burnett was a photojournalist, he had the opportunity to witness as well as photograph eleven different presidents of the United States ranging from John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson all the way to the current president Donald Trump. During each of the swearing-in ceremonies, David tends to stand out because of his use of an old Leica camera rather than using more modern cameras like other photojournalists. In an interview with Manfrotto School of Excellence Photojournalist David Burnett explained that his is motivated “from trying to find: something that can have a little bit of a different look to it. It is more motivation, technically speaking I don’t do so many things that are different or amazing or all together differentiated from what other people do. I am just someone who gets a great kick out of trying to capture the elements of the world around me.”



Image by David Burnett
Year:- 2019
https://twitter.com/davidb383/status/1194622347845742597/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1194622347845742597&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dpreview.com%2Farticles%2F2937027624%2Fphotographer-david-burnett-at-today-s-impeachment-hearings

Principle #1: Background compliments or detracts from composition: The background definetly compliments the images. Since the old camera is the main subject of the picture, the background gets the camera to stand out.

Principle #2: Is the image Black & White or color?: The image is in color. I believe if it were to be in black and white it would not really hjave the same feeling of which the old camera stands out in a modern certain.

Principle #3: Use of lines:-  The lines in the image do not stand out however, it does outline the objects in which the camera is placed upon.

Why did I choose the image?: I choose this image because it shows how much David is different from other photojournalist in the sense that in such a modern world, he still makes use of an old camera.

On the website ASMP, an article was written by Jenna close titled Questions with a Pro: David Burnett where she had conducted an interview with him. A comment was made by skoogfors@gmail.com “The greatest lesson I ever learned, and it was from David, WORK HARD. The harder you work, as the old saying goes, the luckier you get. David is certainly the hardest working photographer I know and he is truly great.” This is one of the many people in the world who are motivated and positively impacted by the works of David Burnett in the society. It is clear that David is viewed as a role model and mentor to fellow young photojournalists.


Sources

https://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/photographer-david-burnett-arrives-to-the-10th-annual-lucie-news-photo/153732896

David Burnett in a suit (video)

http://photographmag.com/reviews/david-burnett-man-without-gravity-at-anastasia-photo/

Man with gravity

David Burnett | Photographerhttps://www.davidburnett.com